Who Invented the Directional Drilling Method?

  • by ClearPath Utility Solutions, LLC

This week, we wanted to take a look into history and pay our respects to the man whose vision, made what services we provide possible. 

In 1929, in the small town of Conroe, Texas, H. John Eastman introduced controlled directional drilling to the world. He was awarded a patent for the process in 1930. He first used the technique in Huntington, CA to drill offshore using a whip stitch for directional control. The public did not deem this technology to be impressive or useful, at first. Eastman’s methods grew in popularity, like all great inventions do, because they solved a problem. In 1933 an oil strike in Texas caught on fire and burned for months. After the fire burned out, the oil continued to flow into a lake nearby. Eastman was able to stop the flow of oil by using directional drilling to drill a relief well and stop the pressure. 

Who Invented The Directional Drilling Method H John Eastman

“Slanted oil wells are the latest sensation of the oil industry,” reports May 1934 Popular Science Monthly article. 

Eastman’s methods continued to grow in popularity as he began to use the process to reach oil under small off-shore islands. Thus creating a global organization and launching into the widespread services we are able to offer today.

ClearPath Utility Solutions, LLC Who Invented the Directional Drilling Method?

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